THE underwater archaeologist behind The Last Battle of the Vikings says making the documentary was a personal journey for him.

IF the Battle of Largs in 1263 had played out differently, we might all be speaking Norwegian.

Then again, if underwater archaeologist Dr Jon Henderson had chosen to stick with thrash metal band Attica Rage instead of taking his exams, we might not be learning about it.

The Scottish academic is fronting new BBC documentary The Last Battle of the Vikings, which examines how bands of warriors from the Norwegian fjords established the longest-lasting Norse power base in the British isles before Largs broke their stranglehold.

But when he was 17, Jon played with the Glasgow band until it came to exam time in his first year at the University of Edinburgh – and he found himself at a classic rock crossroads.

Jon, now 40, said: “They were a big band in the west of Scotland at the time. Metallica hadn’t really toured so we were playing a lot of Metallica and we got quite big crowds.

“They were the first band I ever saw live and I ended up playing with them. My role was to play guitar and shout.

“It’s terrible and very un-rock’n’roll but I gave up being in the band to do my exams.

“We had these gigs in London and I said, ‘But I have my exams.’ They said, ‘Well, it’s the band or the exams.’

“I chose my studies over rock. It’s pathetic. Maybe it was never meant to be. They are still playing and doing well.

“They play a lot of festivals – a lot better than when I was in them. They were lovely guys and I am still in touch with them.”

Dr Jon Henderson

Jon still plays guitar, occasionally appearing with a Jimi Hendrix tribute band, but his real passion is for the past.

The Last Battle of the Vikings looks at the history of the Norse warriors in Scotland. It’s also a personal journey as Jon grew up close to Largs in West Kilbride, Ayrshire.

He said: “I was always aware there was a battle with the Vikings and it always seemed very odd to me. I didn’t really understand why they were here, what they were doing.

“The only thing I remember is at school everybody wanted to be a Viking and nobody wanted to be a Scot, for whatever reason.

“They celebrate it every year at the Pencil Monument in Largs. There are people doing re-enactments and you have the Vikingar! Interpretive Centre so people are probably more aware of it now. I was intrigued to find out more and hopefully what this documentary shows is the strong influence the Norse had on Scotland.

“Unfortunately, both my parents are dead and I have been working in England for a very long time. I did a Phd at Oxford and got a job down there right away.

“I haven’t been back for quite a while, which is another reason why it was so nice to do this programme.”

The Battle of Largs was the last time a Norse army fought on British soil. The battle ended in stalemate but it marked the beginning of the end of Viking power in Scotland.

This documentary looks at how and why a few bands of warriors managed to gain their power base in the British isles, beginning in the late eighth century when longships ravaged the islands and coastline of Scotland in hit-and-run raids.

The Last Battle of the Vikings

Their often savage forays evolved into trade and settlement and areas of Scotland, including Orkney and Shetland and much of the western seaboard, were dominated by Norse culture.

Tensions between the kingdom of Scotland and the Norwegian Crown would eventually break out into full-scale war, which came to a head at Largs in 1263 with King Alexander III’s forces facing King Haakon IV’s huge fleet of warriors. It was to prove a major turning point in Scotland’s history.

Jon said: “The Battle of Largs wasn’t so much a battle. King Haakon had a massive armada – 120 ships, 20,000 men. Imagine them anchored off Largs, sitting just off Arran.

“There was nothing as big as this until the Spanish Armada. It’s a huge invasion force coming to the UK mainland and, if they had landed, I think they would probably have overcome the Scots.

“The Scottish king Alexander did not want to take him on at sea and he played a waiting game, quite a clever one. He wanted the Scottish weather to do the work for him and that’s what happened.

“On October 1, the weather broke and some ships were run ashore and there was a small skirmish. The Scots pounced on the Vikings trying to salvage and recover their ships.

“It wasn’t a massive pitch battle but, after that, because of the winter, King Haakon went back to Orkney with a view to coming back.

“Undoubtedly, if he would have, Scottish history would have been very, very different. We might be sitting here speaking Norwegian – it could have changed it that much.

“But he died in Orkney and his son, King Magnus, didn’t have the appetite for this kind of invasion. He had problems at home and he didn’t have the cash to mount another expedition.

“He basically sold it off with the Treaty of Perth in 1266 and that was it, really.”

Despite the Battle of Largs, the Viking influence has been passed down through the centuries.

The Last Battle of the Vikings

There are no shortage of people who claim to have Viking blood, although there was a very dark side to the warriors, according to Jon.

He said: “There was a reclassification of the Vikings about 10 years ago, seeing them as nice, tree-hugging hippies. We have now gone back to seeing them for what they were. At the beginning, they were a nasty piece of work. They came out of nowhere in longships, taking slaves and killing people.”

The film is Jon’s second foray into TV, having already presented City Beneath The Waves: Pavlopetri – about the lost Greek city which may have inspired the myth of Atlantis.

His day job as associate professor at the University of Nottingham’s archaeology department remains his focus, however. He is also working with the Italian government, surveying an ancient battle site in Sicily.

He said: “I am excited about doing anything that supports underwater archaeology because there is still so much to be found.

“Sea levels reached the level they are at now about 5000 years ago. If you think about humans being on the planet for 200,000 years, most of them near the coast, there are vast swathes of human history under the sea in continental shelf areas.

“Lots of really exciting things are going to be happening – that’s why I got into it.”

Thrash metal’s loss appears to be archaeology’s gain.

The Last Battle Of The Vikings is on Friday on BBC2 at 9pm.

Weather here is Awe-ful...I'm off to the sunshine

The Scottish weather played a major part in ensuring King Haakon IV’s armada didn’t land at Largs – and it also inspired Jon to make his dream of exploring Pavlopetri come true.

He was researching an ancient dwelling on Loch Awe in very bad weather when he decided the Mediterranean was calling.

Jon said: “It’s a bit of a joke. I was stuck in a blizzard on Loch Awe, working on a crannog.

“We had to finish it because Historic Scotland had a cut-off point. It was miserable.

“There were two of us and the other guy was Andy Torbet.

“I said, ‘My next job is going to be in the Mediterranean.’

“He laughed and said, ‘I’m going to be a TV presenter.’

“I laughed but I meant it and so did he. I went off to Pavlopetri and he went on to present Operation Iceberg for the BBC earlier this year.